Trials with Jordan Szoke and Dan Johnson

Posted on April 29, 2013February 4, 2016 by cecile

Jordan Szoke and Dan Johnson are numbers 1 and 2 respectively in Canada, and I was stoked to have them as my trials instructors this past weekend.

Organised by Bob Billyard, the skills clinics were held for novice to advanced riders and included a mixture of young, and the ‘young at heart’. The advanced session was held Saturday while the instruction on Sunday was reserved for children, and novice trial riders. Although I consider myself a seasoned veteran with some decent skills on the trails I would not classify myself as an advanced trials rider, and so chose to attend Sundays instruction. I have owned a trials bike for over 10 years (funny enough – it used to belong to Jordan’s dad) and have dabbled with trials here and there. The majority of the time though I simply love to ride my trials bike through the trails for it light weight, excellent traction and fun factor.

The ratio between instructors to riders was high insuring participants a high level of learning. I did not know what to expect and came into the clinics wishing to boost my confidence level and up my skills, especially clutch control. Combined with a great practice area and a high quality of instruction I was able to achieve my goals. The track set up was great – allowing us to grow with each new set of drills. There were easy lines and more challenging ones – logs, hills, rocks, boulder, sand, off-camber lines, more logs, tight tree turns were some of the obstacles for us to use.

My personal hang-ups was the log at the top of the short but steep hill which caused me to flip my bike with me tumbling back down the hill breaking my kill switch and ripping off my rear fender in the process. There was also the rock face we had to climb – it was a small rock but large enough to spit me off my bike. Despite this school has never been so much fun.

Lunch was included and during our water breaks Dan and Jordan turned on the heat and gave us a wicked side-show. The only better ones to watch were the young kids zooming, and hopping along on their OSSA electric bikes. It was cool to see both our current and our future riders in action.

A huge thank you goes to Bob Billyard for organising the clinics. Bob is a distributor for OSSA trials bikes, and a vast assortment of trials gear such as top-ranked Gaerne boots, and Airoh helmets. A wide gamut of sizes of sizes are carried – from children to adults – so I was stoked to find out that he could order me a pair of size 5, or 6 mens trials boots. I’ve been wanting a pair for a long time and can’t wait to get my feet in them. I’ve also got my eye on a sweet Airoh helmet, with matching red pants and jerseys. Feel good, look good and ride good…it’s all good in my books!!

See you next year!

I’d like to say this is me but Dan Johnson, also a Trials des Nations’ Canadian Team Member may have something to say about that.

RJ’s – Offroad Ontario XC #3 2012

Posted on June 6, 2012 by cecile

Offroad Ontario’s cross-country #3 is officially in the bag and it will be remembered either as a nightmare or a dream. For myself and for a select few others it was a dream. But for many, the mud proved relentless and challenging and even created a ‘horror’ show for a few.

The morning began with the mini-class winding their way through trails, MX track and wide open roads with spectacular traction. After the start of the race, I immediately hit the first set of pine trees which eventually lead the riders into RJ’s intricate network of trails. I knew the riders went through this area as I remember that from having raced several times here a few years ago. Where ever I looked I found beauty created by the early morning rain as leaves, needles and forest floor glowed with saturated greens and browns.

No sooner had the mini race finished the morning class took the reigns as two-strokes buzzed and four-strokes thumped their way through the loop. Instead of walking back to the start I decided to continue my trek along the race course and settled upon a beautiful open grassy area. The riders would be tackling a steep, short uphill, bursting onto a field of green, and descend just as quickly and back into the darkness of the trail as they had come up.

Partway through the race the skies opened and rained. First a drizzle and finally a steady downpour leaving heavy droplets. As Ted Dirstein, Masters class, aptly put it ‘I wasn’t sure if someone had thrown some WD-40 on the course it was so slick’. Lucky for me, I was somewhat sheltered underneath a canopy of trees but decided to leave my flash in my camera bag. I knew my D3S would handle some rain but still I covered it under my rain jacket…just in case. My husband would really not be impressed with me ruining yet another camera (Nikon D80, D90 – poor souls they had no chance).

By the end of the morning the rain had stopped and replaced with thick gooey mud. And then, just like that the sun came out just in time for the afternoon race. The mud became tacky and did not shed from the tires easily. A deep groove had already been created in a marshy area of the course by the morning class. This is where I decided to set up for the afternoon race. I certainly did not want to miss any entertainment and action that would be provided in the first two laps of the race.

Some tackled the area with ease…ok…only Josh Long did while the others hit the tree before the mud and paddled their way through the deep rut. Some fell, some got stuck and others swerved left and right in a controlled fashion.

As always it was a pleasure being back at the races and meeting people I had not seen in a while. Thank you to the numerous volunteers, OCMC, RJ’s and Ontario Offroad for a great race. Too see more pictures of all classes please click here.

SCORRA Ladies Training Day 2012

Posted on June 4, 2012 by cecile

Ladies Clinic — On the learning flats, taking a short break and watching dark skies ahead.

Judging from the amount of comments received and smiles seen I would say that the 2012 Ladies Training Day was a success. This marks my third year, along with Allision Grummet, Jaime Kowitz, and Tammie Wilson as instructors teaching an all-women offroad clinic. Also joining us was Megan Grummet – Allisons younger sister. The clinic was held on private property north west of Barrie and although the skies threatened to open up and rear its ugly head it never did.

At the sound of the car horn the riders meeting began (more or less) at 9:30 am. Greeting the instructors were about 30 women ready to learn and ride which frankly amazed us because of the torrential downpour the day before and the bleak cool overcast day ahead of us. I told them the rain was a blessing in disguise because the ability to control the bike in slippery conditionis would become of paramount importance. Plus, the soft ground would be quite ideal should an occasional, or accidental, dismount occur. This, essentially, would be a perfect day for learning. Todd had been working hard all week shaping the long grass into figure 8’s, and several long open straight-aways for us to practice on. He even created a large area and combed the grass for hidden rocks. Clearly, this is a man wanting more women on bikes. Super cool! So, we were not going to disappoint him by not wanting to ride and get dirty.

Taking into consideration the wet trails I readjusted the days lesson plans to include lots of braking and throttle work. Back to the basics – fundamentals skills – without them we do not advance, nor look very graceful. Allison and Megan took the beginner group while Jamie, Tammie and myself tackled the intermediate and advance class. We divided the ladies into three groups of 4-5 people, taught the skills and practiced each drill for about 20 or so minutes. After which, the groups rotated in a clockwise direction thus allowing each group to have a different instructor teaching a different skill. Morning skills for all groups consisted of braking, clutch, body position, throttle control, and gearing with each skill becoming progressively harder as the experience of the rider necessitated.

Lunch was cooked by SCORRA members Don Moore and his assistant chef, and consisted of hamburgers, sausages, fresh condiments, watermelon, fruit and cookies (I know Vanessa liked the cookies because her and I were scarfing them down at the end of the day). We also had a few draw prizes after lunch. As previously posted a few ‘blogs’ back I had created an ‘Ontario Women’ series of posters that would allow me to donate profits to help increase the number of women offroad riders. The sales from the Jamie and Melanie posters permitted me to buy a gift certificate from Mission Cycle and congratulations are extended to Kim Carrigan – the recipient of the gift certificate.

After lunch, we gave the ladies a choice of either heading out to a guided trail ride, stopping along the way for instruction as needed. Or, to stay behind and learn more advanced skills and continue to practice. To my amazement again more women stayed behind and were keen on learning advanced skills such as wheelies, stoppies, and jumping.

The day ended around 4pm. Lots were tired but still had the energy for plenty of smiles. Which made us, the instructors, and Jen very happy. By the way best line of the day…I asked Todd if he had ever had this many women riding his MX track and he said ‘no’ with a smile. I am pretty sure I can safely say that the guys love seeing women ride!!

Thanks to Jen Cole for organising this wonderful event, the crew at SCORRA (Brad Obee, Don Moore, Chris Zanelli and many others), Todd and Angela, Mission Cycle and the instructors. It was a beautiful day, spent on an amazing piece of property with a ‘badass’ vista of Barrie’s escarpment, and the sweet sound of buzzing bikes and laughing people.

To see the entire album of photos please visit my gallery at: http://order.cecilegambin.com/riders. It was great meeting everyone and hopefully we will see you on the trails or at next years clinic.